Desperate measures? Not for these Cubs heading home
For Cubs fans, these are desperate times.
Their team is down 2-0 in games to the New York Mets in the National League championship series, and worry has set in about everything from the state of the starting rotation to the hitters not hitting.
But as far as the Cubs see it, desperate measures are not needed as the series shifts to Wrigley Field for what they hope are three games, beginning Tuesday night.
In other words, don't expect the Cubs to deviate much from what they've been doing or how they've approached games all year.
That was evident from late Sunday night in New York, when manager Joe Maddon had “Rocky” music blaring, through Monday's very light workout at Wrigley Field.
“I just rather attempt to go out and win tomorrow's game, that's it,” Maddon said after the workout. “I don't want them to think about it in any other way, shape or form. It's about Tuesday. Again, I've been kind of repeating the same mantra the whole way through: We need to put together several one-game winning streaks. If we keep it one game at a time, we've a good shot of doing it.
“If you want to get into that result-oriented method of thinking, it's not going to play. So for me, for us, I'm really happy our guys have adopted that method. We'll come out tomorrow, we'll be ready to play. Our guys are always ready to play. Their prep is great. The camaraderie among the group cannot be better; it's impossible. So we'll go out and play tomorrow, and the expectation is to win one game at a time.”
The mood inside the Cubs clubhouse Monday was pretty much the same. In other words, Maddon's message seems to be getting through.
“Anything's possible in the playoffs,” said third baseman Kris Bryant. “The Red Sox were down three-games-to-nothing (before winning the 2004 ALCS). So it really doesn't matter. A guy can step up huge in any one of these next games. There's no sense of desperation. You saw us having fun, laying out in center field, goofing off and having a lot of fun. That's a good characteristic to have.”
As far as pitching goes, the Cubs have fired two blanks, with top pitchers Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta having lost decisions in the first two games against the Mets.
For Game 3, the Cubs turn to 25-year-old Kyle Hendricks, who just completed his first full year in the big leagues. In Game 4, they're going — and with a seeming sigh of resignation — with veteran Jason Hammel, who had a poor second half. Hendricks (8-7, 3.05 ERA in the regular season) faces Jacob deGrom, who went 2-0 against the Dodgers in the divisions series.
“Yeah, there's pressure,” Hendricks said. “It's the playoffs. There's always going to be some pressure, but you've got to let the pleasure exceed that. We've heard Joe say it a lot. I'm just going to go out and try to have fun. This is why you play the game, this is why you want the ball. So pressure in a way is sometimes a good thing.”
Yes, Maddon is fond of saying, “Never let the pressure exceed the pleasure,” and it seems to have resonated with these Cubs.
But now, they're faced with real adversity for the first time this season. A loss in Game 3 puts them down 3-0 in a series where the Mets have the final two games at home, if necessary.
According to one veteran, it's just best to stay the course.
“We've had 6-7 months of training ourselves to be that way and actually growing as a group from spring training to the second half of the season to where we're doing that consistently, where each day is its own,” said backup catcher David Ross. “Why would you want to change that? Just the environment we've played in the whole last part of the season, we're not scared of a loss. We're preparing ourselves to go out there and play hard.
“I think we should try to be ourselves. That's the kind of group we are.”